Love Bites
by ek0
Summary: Emma Ayres becomes a new doctor at a hospital and is teamed with Carlisle Cullen. Witness their adventure around the wards in this House-like drama.
1. Chapter 1

Feeling No Pain

The summer wind whispered in the trees as I climbed the last hill. The hospital was finally in my sights and I sighed in utter relief. I had missed the bus in the morning and had to run all the way here. It was a long way.  
Today was my very first day at my new job and I was meant to attend a meeting in which we would be shown around and put into our teams. I had wanted to be early and my car was in repair, so I was going to take the early bus. But instead I missed it and there were no other buses for an hour so I thought it healthy, for my career and my body, to run to work. I attracted looks as I raced past patients smoking outside of the entrance and whisked past a couple and to the receptionist. "Hi." I panted breathlessly. "I'm one of the new doctors and I am here for the meeting."  
"Ah," the woman sighed knowingly. "You're just in time. The meeting is starting in two minutes."  
The receptionist gave me directions, it was only up the stairs and in the room on my third right. I thanked her and ran for it. One minute.  
I burst through the door at the last second. All the others were seated and every head turned to stare at me.  
I gave a nervous laugh and looked for a seat. Only when I sat down did they all turn away. I gulped. There must've been about 100 other people in the huge hall.  
The woman at the podium launched back into her speech and I relaxed slightly. She just rambled on about our duties and the purpose of teams.  
The meeting was a tedious one, just mainly speeches and instructions.  
Then, finally, we were told to go to room 47 in the West Wing to be separated into our teams.  
I sighed in relief and walked along with the mass of people to the room. The halls were white and sometimes there would be an interesting painting and I would stop then have to catch up with my group.  
I arrived and walked inside, seating myself in one of the front rows before it started.  
A man walked out and looked around at all of us, a smile on his lips that looked forced and unnatural. "Good Morning everyone." He called out once the crowd quietened.  
"I am Dr. Samson and am the director of the hospital."  
`He had blue eyes and shoulder length wavy hair and wore a black suit. Dr. Samson slowly began reading from a long list of names.  
"Sally Drawson, Kurstin Blake, and Jessica Budin." He called out. "You are in team one with Dr. Lazuli."  
Three people got out of their chairs and walked over to a woman with brown eyes and hair the color of obsidian that she wore in a million tiny plaits. She smiled sneakily at her team and they all walked through the door. That's when I noticed the doctors that stood all around the sides of the room.  
Some looked proud, others looked bored and irritated. Dr. Samson drawled on for the good part of an hour. I was ready to give up when-  
"Mia Midgee, Samuel Bulldog and Emma Ayres." He droned. "You are in team thirty three with Dr. Cullen." I stood up at my name, but as Dr. Cullen walked up to take his place a lot of the others stood up as well. I couldn't see him as I walked up to him. But then, the crowds parted. He was young, he was blonde…and he was handsomer than any movie star I'd ever seen.  
He was pale though, and tired looking, with circles under his eyes. I realized I was staring and closed my mouth just before he saw me.  
He smiled at all of us and led us outside. "Alright," he said in a voice that I found remarkably appealing. "Welcome. From now on you are Dr. Midgee, Dr. Bulldog, and Dr. Ayres." I felt a rush of pride at my new name. "Come, I will show you around the hospital." He announced.  
As I followed him around, I looked over at Dr. Midgee and Dr. Bulldog.  
Dr. Midgee looked more like a dangerous weapon than a woman, her round blue eyes swimming with secrets and hostility. Her fine, midnight blue hair fell past her shoulders so straight that you could cut yourself on it.  
Dr. Bulldog looked like a placid man with droopy brown eyes and his scruffy, long blonde hair.  
He felt my gaze on him, and looked over to smile at me.  
Dr. Cullen stopped at a door and got out a silver key from his pocket. He unlocked it and inside was a desk, a sink, a coffee machine, and a table with four chairs around it.  
"Welcome to where you'll live for the rest of your time here."  
"Neat." Dr. Bulldog remarked.  
Dr. Cullen smiled and wandered over to the desk where he opened a drawer and pulled out a document. He walked to the table and threw it down.  
"Sit down." He said calmly.  
I sat at the end while Dr. Midgee and Dr. Bulldog positioned their chairs to face Dr. Cullen. He sat at the other end and picked up the document.  
"This is our first case." He said in a musical voice.  
"A woman 20 year old woman had a heart attack in her home last night. No medical history of anything but broken bones."  
"Did she smoke?" Dr. Midgee asked.  
"No." Dr. Cullen dismissed.  
"Diabetes?" Dr. Bulldog questioned.  
"No." Dr. Cullen sighed.  
Then it clicked.  
"Dr. Cullen?" I said sensitively.  
"Carlisle, please." He chuckled. I refused to meet his eyes.  
"Well, then, Carlisle." I muttered. "Did you say that she had a history of broken bones?"  
"Yes…?" He sounded hopeful.  
"Could it be that she breaks so many bones because she has vision problems?"  
There was silence. "Dr. Midgee, Dr. Bulldog." Carlisle said quietly. "Go and find out anything about her history that you can." They ran off without another word. "Dr. Ayres. We're going to ask our patient some questions."  
I rode a strange high as Carlisle walked me down the spotless halls. It felt good knowing that he had picked me over the others. We walked into the room and he smiled at our patient. She looked terrible, deathly pale skin but her eyes looked fine.  
"Hello." Carlisle said in a perfectly natural tone.  
I envied his professional ease and skill. "I am Dr. Cullen and this is Dr. Ayres."  
He motioned to himself then to me. "We are your doctors."  
I smiled at her, but she just stared right through me.  
I examined her charts while Carlisle asked her a few questions. He pulled up her side table and laid seven pictures out on it. "I want you to put these in order for me." He said slowly. I put down the charts and looked at her, studying her reaction. She nodded and gazed intently at one of a little boy flying a kite. She shook her head and started to cry. Carlisle comforted her as best he could. "It's okay." He said softly.  
He looked at me meaningfully and I nodded, knowing that he wanted to ask her some questions in private. I walked down the corridor to our room and sat down, reading over Carlisle's document. This was a real mystery now.  
Carlisle arrived and sat down beside me.  
"I asked her about her parents." He said coolly. "She said that her mother had glasses when she got older, but that is to be expected." I frowned. "Didn't she look like she was in pain?" I asked him. He tensed, and then shook his head. "No." I frowned again. He sighed.  
Dr. Midgee and Dr. Bulldog walked in. "Nothing in her history." Dr. Bulldog grumbled.  
"How did she break her bones anyways?" I asked. "She broke her leg when she tripped; she broke two ribs when she fell off the monkey bars in school." Dr. Midgee hissed at me. "There are too many to count." Then I had a brainwave. "Her bones break too easily." I whispered.  
Every pair of eyes in the room focused on me. "Osteomalacia." I hear Carlisle murmur. "But how does that affect her heart?"  
"Broken bones cause an increase in calcium." I said. "That could interfere with her heart." More staring.  
"Genius." Dr. Bulldog muttered. I blushed slightly  
"Dr. Bulldog." Carlisle called. "Do a bone biopsy and find out how strong they are. Dr. Midgee. Do a blood test and see how much calcium is in her bloodstream." The two doctors nodded and ran off. He turned once again to me. "You are very good." He praised.  
I blushed again and Carlisle chuckled. "Come," he said. "Let's ask her some more questions."  
We were once again walking to interrogate the patient. "This time, you ask the questions." He laughed. I did. I asked her about her breaking her bones and noticed that her fingers looked like flesh had been ripped from them and it had healed many times. Her lips were also puffy, cracked and bloody. I asked her to open her mouth, and the tip of her tongue was gone. "What happened to your tongue?" I asked her. "I don't know." She said strangely.  
It was probably because of her tongue. I narrowed my eyes. "Don't your lips hurt?" I questioned. "No." she said in a low voice. I paused. "Have they ever hurt?" She stopped, and then shook her head.

"She has anhidrosis!" I exclaimed when Carlisle and I were back in our room. He shook his head. "How did you come to that conclusion?" "She had puffy lips, her hands have bite marks in them and the tip of her tongue is gone!" I cried. "She says that her lips have never hurt."  
There was a long silence. "Wow." Carlisle said after a while.  
I sat down, breathless by my discoveries. We were silent. Dr. Midgee rushed in first. "She was right." She said. "I know." Carlisle muttered weakly. Dr. Bulldog was close behind. "Bones of an old lady." He confirmed. They all turned to look in my direction. Every gaze was like a scrape on my consciousness, each with a different burn. Dr. Midgee's was unbearable, Dr. Bulldog's was numb. And Dr. Carlisle's was one of breathlessness and surprise and longing in one flaming fire of emotion. And it hurt the most of all.

It was lunch hour and I went outside to get a breather. I wasn't hungry after all I'd seen, just a bit scared.  
"You were simply amazing." A voice behind me said. I jumped and spun around, seeing only that it was Dr. Bulldog.  
"Oh, it's just you." I sighed nervously. "And thank you Dr. Bulldog, but it was nothing." "Please call me Sam." He grumbled. "And from the look on Dr. Cullen's face you were more than nothing."  
I blushed. So much blushing today! "I do thank you, Sam," I said. "But he…was just surprised." Sam gave me a sarcastic look with his droopy brown eyes.  
I looked away. He sighed. "Did you want to grab some ice cream before we go back to work?" he offered. I looked back up at him, surprised. "That would be great." I stuttered. I had not expected Sam to be so friendly. I smiled and we walked across the road to the corner shop. I had found my first friend at the hospital.  
After lunch I took a deep breath and walked into our room with Sam. I didn't want to be alone with Carlisle. He was hunched over his desk, perfectly still. I tiptoed to my seat with Sam.  
Suddenly, he looked up. "Afternoon Dr. Bulldog, Dr. Ayres." He stuttered as he took his seat at the opposite end of the table. I refused to make eye contact with him, even though I could still feel his gaze on me.  
Sam gave me a reassuring look that Carlisle seemed to tense a little at. Had I offended him?  
But it was over as soon as it begun. Dr. Midgee burst in. "Sorry I'm late Dr. Cullen!" she said.  
Carlisle didn't acknowledge her at all. His eyes were still burning into me. She pouted a little at that, but didn't glare at me. She simply sat down and waited.  
I had never had much experience with men. I was seen as something un-desirable and different. Carlisle acted so strangely, and I wondered if he found me un-desirable and strange too.  
Something told me that he didn't. But why did he keep staring. Dr. Midgee cleared her throat and Carlisle snapped out of it. "Oh." He said, looking dazed. "Sorry. I was thinking of what to do with our patient."  
Dr. Midgee wore a look on her face that just screamed _Yeah, right! _ I was still thinking of what to make of Carlisle's expression when he stood up. "We need to all go and ask our patient about her past." He stated firmly. He then walked out.  
Dr. Midgee only glared at me when he was out of the room. I sighed and walked after him, Sam following close behind.  
Carlisle was already at her bedside. "Did you ever feel pain when you broke your bones?" he asked. She shook her head. But then everything changed.  
She began to shake wildly, and her eyes rolled into her head. Carlisle gasped. He looked at all of us, questions in his eyes.  
"She's seizing!" He cried.


	2. Chapter 2

2. Paws

I didn't sleep that night. Her face was burned into my mind, and all I dreamed of was darkness and numbness. I try to run, but the path crumbles and I fall into nothingness. It was terrifying because I was running from something I couldn't see and the path is my lifeline, so as it crumbles so do I. My alarm rang shrilly at five am. I hit the button to make the beeping stop, thankful for a reason to not have to re-live any more of yesterday.  
I climbed out of bed and (well, I more or less fell) and stumbled to the shower. I let the warm water run over me, washing away my nightmares. But the reality still remained. And it was cruel. I had a patient, and we had no idea what was wrong with her. I shivered to know that our team's patient may die because I may not be able to come up with any answers. I dried and dressed quicker than usual, eager to help this woman. I had some burnt toast for breakfast, then grabbed my bag and ran. I was just in time for the bus. I hopped on and paid my fee, then sat down by a window, my head in my hands. I heard somebody sit down beside me.  
"What's wrong?" a husky voice said.  
I recognized his voice instantly and looked up to see Sam, his long blonde hair wet and drying into clumps that looked strangely natural and suited him. He smiled and I found the strength to smile back. I hoped it looked convincing enough, because it sure didn't feel like it.  
"It's just…our patient…" I mumbled. He sighed and flopped an arm around my shoulders. I froze at first, but soon relaxed under his touch.  
"It's okay. This happens all the time. It's part of being a doctor." He said softly. Part of me wanted to burst into fury at this. It was like he was speaking to a kindergartener. But my exhaustion won me over.  
"I know. I know." I mumbled. The furious side of me crumbled.  
"None of us ever want to have to deal with stuff like this." Sam continued. I frowned, and then looked over at him. Why hadn't I ever seen him on the bus?  
"Since when did you catch this bus?" I asked him. My eyes secretly searched for Carlisle.  
"Since I started working at the hospital." He yawned. I noticed this. Looks like I wasn't the only one having sleepless nights. "Bad sleep?"  
He yawned again. "Yeah." I smiled at him, at how casually he threw off my terrifying nightmares.  
We sat in silence for the rest of the trip. Neither of us was speaking about my ability to answer questions or Carlisle. That was still a mystery. And one I felt was my responsibility to solve.  
Carlisle. My heart stopped.  
What was so wrong with me to him? I sighed sadly.  
I just couldn't understand it. It was so confusing.  
I had never done anything to upset him. I double checked yesterday's steps.  
Wasn't it my job to try and solve the case? That's what I was taught.  
So I got it right, that was supposed to be good! But what if it was something else that had upset him?  
I sighed and glanced out the window, watching the trees rush by in a confused blur. Trees were so lucky that they weren't doctors.  
We were close now, so Sam stood up and I shifted over, tensed to get up. I didn't know what today would bring, but I resolved not to allow Carlisle to do that to me anymore. It wasn't fair. Not at all.  
Sam and I got off the bus and walked towards the hospital. "Don't look now, but here comes Dr. Midget." He muttered in my ear. I stiffened.  
I looked over and there she was. She was leaning against a street light, looking bored. Her midnight blue hair was in a bun that had two chopsticks through it. I pretended to vomit into an invisible bucket and Sam laughed.  
I snorted disgustedly and continued walking into the hospital. It was a clear morning; the sun was still slowly rising over the trees and the garden outside the hospital was bathed in golden pink light. I sighed and stepped inside. I loved the way that the colder air would whoosh into your face as soon as you stepped into a hospital.  
Inside it was cool and refreshing, with the overly clean air that I had grown used to. It smelt like home. I laughed at the thought; hospitals were the one place that ordinary people tried to avoid.  
Sam and I walked upstairs and dawdled on the way to our room. I was in no hurry to have to face Carlisle again so we wasted time talking and laughing. Sam was a good guy, I was glad to have him as a friend. Maybe we could go for ice-cream again, the place across the road was damn good but we attracted stares from all the other doctors, weren't people our age supposed to drink coffee?  
But in the end we had to go in. Sam offered to go in first but I shook my head. I needed to do this. Solving the mystery meant being brave.  
I took a deep breath then opened the door. He was drawing on a whiteboard that I had never noticed before. His hair was neat and his suit looked normal. Good signs. There was nothing out of place about him at all. Only if a person really looked would they be able to see the stress in his golden eyes. He spun around and smiled at us. "Morning." He said cheerily.  
I was taken by surprise. "G-good morning." I said shakily. This was…unexpected. And good in a way. Sam was right beside me, ready to shield me protectively. But I gave him the okay, and he slowly moved off, still cautious.  
On the board was something that looked a lot like a mind map in his elegant script. In fact, it probably was a mind map.

Heart Attack – Osteogenisis Imperfecta – CIPA – Seizure

"Osteogenisis Imperfecta?" Sam asked him. Yikes, big words.  
"CIPA?" I said. Just like me to pick the abbreviated one.  
"Brittle Bones Syndrome and Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis." He explained. "Your first theories were close yet wrong." Carlisle looked over at me and shot me a breathtaking smile. I had to restart my heart. "But without your base I would've never been able to build up an image of what is wrong with her."  
I nodded, slightly dazed. "When did you figure this out?" I asked him. "Last night." He said. "I ran some more tests and dug further into the case."Wait- last night? I gaped at him. "You were here _all night?_" I exclaimed. No, that was impossible. He nodded absently and went back to writing. I was still gaping at him when Dr. Midgee ran into the room. "Sorry I'm late Dr. Cullen!" she cried, turning heads and attracting a scowl from Carlisle. "That's got to be the second time, Dr. Midgee." He said. "And it's Carlisle."  
"Well then, Carlisle." She whispered, fluttering her eyelashes. "Then I'm Mia." Something in my head snapped.  
Carlisle turned away and motioned for us to sit. I felt sick. Did she really think that that was going to work? She was without a hope. I was a virgin and I could do better than that!  
"Okay," he began once everyone was seated. "For those of you who were absent-"He shot a meaningful look at Mia. Ha! Take that! "Our patient has Osteogenisis Imperfecta and CIPA." Mia nodded vigorously, trying to look interested and involved. I groaned softly and laid my head in my hands.  
Sam was trying not to laugh as Carlisle was explaining it to Mia. She really had no clue. How did she get to be a doctor? Flashing her to her colleagues? Sleeping with her teachers?  
Carlisle sat back and sighed. "So…" Sam grumbled. "What do we do now?" It was exactly what I was thinking. "A very good question." Mia exclaimed with authority. Carlisle ignored her. "I suggest that the best point of action is to dig deeper into what caused her seizure."  
"What causes seizures?" Carlisle asked us. Oh, geez…  
"Epilepsy?" I asked. It was the only one I could come up with.  
"She hasn't got Epilepsy." Ouch.  
"High Temperatures?" Sam threw in. That's what I was missing!  
"There were none near her." Carlisle 1 – Sam 0  
"Head Injury?" Mia guessed. Why did she have to suddenly have this great idea; that was my job!  
"That's possible." Carlisle said, lightly surprised. "Dr. Ayres, Dr. Bulldog, Dr. Midgee. I want you to look over her previous head injuries, see how recent they are and how severe. I have some paperwork to do." At least he was surprised, that means that we both agree that Mia is stupid.  
I cursed underneath my breath. Not only did I have to work without Carlisle, I had to work with _Mia_. Ugh. I was going to puke. At least I had Sam.  
We made our way over to the x-ray room, Mia taking up the rear alone. "Hey, Mia," Sam began. Don't do it Sam! "Can you go and find her past x-rays?" She nodded and I sighed in relief. "Thanks." I smiled at Sam. "No problem." He laughed. When we got there, there was already a team in there. A tall, lanky man was arguing with an even taller thinner woman. The man had bright ginger hair in an untidy bundle and looked like he was in charge of the taller woman. She was something. Taller than even Carlisle, she had blonde hair and grayish blue eyes like mine.  
"He has leukemia. We need to start him on chemotherapy." The red head was saying. But the blonde shook her head. "No. There has to be something more than just that! Look at all the other symptoms he is showing! You don't even have proof of leukemia!" She cried. Her blonde hair fell onto her shoulders in messy array. "I have plenty of proof!" he exclaimed, his eyes blue fire. They fell silent and the blonde walked out of the room, looking forlorn and upset. The red head looked around, and then backed out of the room.  
While I was wondering over their heated debate, I was surprised to see that Mia had unfortunately arrived. Sam and she were pouring over tons of x-rays and I reluctantly set to work. That was what I was here for.

I walked back to Carlisle's office, a place that I realized I had never been before. Sam opened the door and Carlisle was kneeling on the tiled floor putting something away in a file cabinet. It was spacious, with a bookshelf on the left wall and a computer on a desk with a printer on the right. Why didn't I get one? In the wall facing me was a bed, chair and a sink. I stopped looking around and Carlisle was at the desk in an instant, examining the two major head traumas we had discovered.  
"Well," he began. "Those are traumas but not the ones we are looking for in a seizure." All that for nothing!  
"Epilepsy." Sam said. "It could've been drugs or alcohol that caused it." Nice.  
Carlisle shook his head. "It couldn't have been. There were no drugs in her blood." I should back him up.  
"Were." I pointed out. "We should test her blood again." Score.  
"But how could she have gotten drugs? She was only ever on painkillers and that never did any help." Mia wondered. Gee, thanks Mia.  
"Test her." Carlisle said. The scores are changing.  
"For what?" I asked. We had no conclusion.  
"Anything." Helpful.  
I huffed and stomped out of his office, my hands in fists. I turned and walked to her room. I saw a visitor crouched near her bedside. But she had no living family… He was whispering to her, and then hugged her before he turned to leave. I watched him suspiciously as he walked away. Was this her first visitor? And why had he come?

I walked down to the elevators to get to the lunch hall that afternoon. It was too hot to be outside and I was so hungry it hurt. There were about four elevators with the one on the far right reserved for emergency patients. Cool. Each was painted white but the paint was starting to fall off and it looked old and used. As I was waiting patiently for the elevator, two people came up behind me. One of them I recognized from the x-ray room. She was with a much shorter woman who had long dark brown hair tied in a ponytail. Her icy blue eyes were not sure what to make of what the tall girl's words. I listened harder and they were talking about their team lead doctor. "…yeah I know! He had no reason to do anything like that!" the short one said. "I just wish that our patient didn't have to die like this…" The blonde looked like she would burst into tears any second. "Shh, Holly, we don't know that." The short one comforted her.  
So her name was Holly. The elevator showed up and we all got in. I watched them from the corner. A good place for eavesdropping. The short one spun around to me. "Can you help us with a patient?" she asked me. "We need help."  
I nodded slowly, not quite sure of any other way to answer. I moved over to them and waited. Ugh, temps. "Yeah…?" I said uncertainly.  
"A 14 year old boy displays not all the symptoms of leukemia but our team leader Dr. Simpson refuses to keep looking." Holly sobbed. Dr. Simpson, where had I heard that name before?

I had explained to them everything they needed to know but once we got to the lunch room they were still there. "Mind if we eat with you Doc?" they asked. I nodded because I couldn't see Sam or Carlisle. Oh well. I guess I was stupid for even hoping _he_ would want to sit with me. I grabbed a bottle of pineapple juice and got some chips and a beef spring roll. As I was paying for my food, Holly and Izzy ran to catch up to me.  
Ugh. New docs sometimes got on my nerves. Well, alot.  
We sat at the table in silence, their eyes never leaving my face. I coughed nervously and then got up slowly to put my rubbish in the bin. Holly and Izzy stood up quickly, their chairs scraping noisily on this tiled floor. Now I was mad. Everyone within three tables of us turned to scowl at me. I tried to hide my face in embarrassment and tipped my stuff into the bin. At least Carlisle wasn't here.  
I ran to the elevators and pressed the button anxiously, praying that there was an elevator nearby. I tapped my foot. I heard footsteps. They were probably following me. Oh dear. Thankfully, a door opened up and I raced inside, pressing the close button as many times as I could manage. There was a crowd in the elevator, a man in a wheel chair and about three visitors. It didn't sound like much, but these elevators were tiny.  
The doors closed and I sighed in relief. Everyone turned to look at me like I was a runaway patient. This was, in a way, what I also thought of myself at the moment. Except I wasn't really a patient. A patient running from two over-doting doctors.  
I nodded hastily at them, before the elevator stopped at my floor and I rushed out and straight into- Oh dang!  
Carlisle caught me before I could hit the floor. He pulled me upright, a look of concern on his beautiful face. "Dr. Ayres," he sighed. I wish he would just call me Emma, but after Mia's outburst I was afraid that he would think I was just competing with her. "Decaf. Seriously." "I know, I know." I said guiltily. He shook his head and we walked to our room. I realized a little happily that he was still holding onto my arm and looking at me like I would fall over myself again any second. I wondered what would happen if he never let go. Like I had accidently fell into superglue and he touched. We'd go everywhere together! To the park, to the shops…even to bed at night. My heart gave a hopeful little jump at this.  
I was still fantasizing when we reached the room. He stopped. "Uhh, Dr?" he said. Emma! I wanted to scream at him. I looked up into his eyes. "Yes Carlisle?" _Yes, of course I'm free tomorrow night! _"Can you let go so I can open the door?" he asked. I was confused for a moment. Then I realized that I was gripping his sleeve and holding him there. I blushed a bit and unclenched my frozen knuckles. He gave me a friendly smile.  
I smiled back a little too eagerly. He looked away and I flinched. I probably looked like I was demented or something. I _felt_ like I was demented or something.  
I sat down and immediately Sam launched into something. But I didn't hear it. My mind was far from medicine. Well, not that far, but a few bunny-hops away. It was on Carlisle. His face, his voice, his eyes, his hair, and the way he dressed… I stopped myself. My heart skipped a beat as I identified my mood change. Was I falling for Carlisle?  
No, definitely wrong. He was, like, married or something. I laughed aloud at my stupidity. Uh-oh. The conversation ended. Three pairs of eyes questioned my sanity. "Dr. Ayres," Carlisle said seriously. I was struck by the appeal of his voice with my newfound knowledge. "We have just found that our patient has Toxoplasmosis. Do you find this funny?"

I didn't sleep that night. Partly because a few hours after I stepped in the door of my house, I started my periods. And also because I was crazy about somebody. Carlisle to be exact. Well, I had blamed it on my hormones. But what if this didn't last just a week? What if it lasted for months? Or years? I stopped. I was getting ahead of myself. _Hormones. Hormones. _I chanted in my head. Slowly, I drifted off to a fitful sleep.

The next morning I slept in, so I had to rush to get to the bus. But I made it, much to my pride. I had skipped breakfast and had no lunch money so I prepared for the day of hunger that awaited me. My period pain threatened to drive me mad, so I popped a Panadol. Sam joined me on the bus as usual, but so did Holly. I had never really noticed her before, but now that she knew me we all hung out more. I didn't talk as much to Sam. Being the sane person as he was, he stayed away. Unlike me, who was all too eager to see Carlisle again. So eager that I just about jumped off the bus.  
My heart stopped when I saw that he was not only outside when I got off, but that he was _walking up to me_. Carlisle smiled and I had to catch my breath. "We are going to investigate the patient's house today." He said slowly. I almost expected myself to get angry at his tone, but his voice was too soothing. I smiled sensitively at him. Us. Alone. Awesome.  
We walked into the car park in silence. My spirits were dampened. He was probably repulsed by me. Just like every other guy in the world apart from Sam and possibly my father. What was I thinking, crushing on somebody like Carlisle Cullen? He was just too good for me.  
He stopped by a Mercedes and opened the door. "Carlisle!" I screamed. "What are you doing?!"He was hot, but I couldn't let him break into somebody's car. He froze. "What?" he asked me, somewhat surprised. I glared at him, exasperated. "What do you think you're doing to this person's car?" He looked up at me, staring for a second. Then he burst into careless laughter.  
I was shaking with fury, my adoration dissolving like sugar in water. He struggled to speak between laughs. "Dr. Ayres…this…this is my car." He said, still in hysterics. Oh my gosh. I stopped for a second, and then glared at him. He opened my door for me. This might've made me blush, but I was so mad. I slammed the door on him and he got into the car.  
His laughter faded and soon it was silent. He turned up a song on the radio to fill the silence. "Katy Pery." I remarked. Hot and Cold, my favorite song. "Yeah." He said. "You like her?"  
"Kinda." I admitted. Carlisle smiled and turned it even louder. The music filled the whole car. I hated how he played with me like a kitten with a ball of twine. I was on the verge of singing along when he parked and cut the engine. He took a deep breath and turned to me. "Here we are."  
I understood. This meant that we were now completely and totally alone. I gulped and he got out of the car and was soon followed up by me. This was new.

I looked over the place. There was really only one word for it – shabby. The wallpaper was peeling and I was afraid to touch anything. Everything I saw screamed 'Emma! We are full of deadly bacteria!' and I couldn't bring myself to go near anything to even take samples. Even with gloves.  
Carlisle was taking some samples from the kitchen while I was looking in the lounge room. It was messy, as in I couldn't see the floor messy. There was rubbish everywhere and the lounge was ripped and smelt disgusting. Like old people farts and pee.  
I took clues from everything I could find, but toxoplasmosis was an infection from cats and it didn't seem like she owned one. Suddenly, there was a cry from the bathroom. "Dr. Ayres," Carlisle called. My heart sped up.

"I think this may help."

Carlisle slammed the plastic bag on the desk. Inside was a positive pregnancy test. "So team," he said to us. "What do we make of this?" His eyes scanned the room.  
There was a silence. "She doesn't have any children." Sam spoke up. "Or did she ever have any male…" Sam refused to go on, guessing that everyone in the room got the meaning. Mia cleared her throat.  
"We need to question her." I said in a fierce whisper. Carlisle nodded at me. "Maybe you should go do it." He said softly. I shivered. "She needs to talk to another woman about this." I gave him a brisk nod then walked out into the corridor.  
I walked down the spotless halls and secretly thanked the gods that I lived in a clean, stable environment. I arrived at her bed and she looked up at me. "I need to ask you something." I said softly. How would I do this? She closed her eyes. "We found a pregnancy test in your house." I went on. "Where is the child and who is the father?"  
She took a deep breath and began without opening her eyes. "I was ready for a baby." She whispered. "My house wasn't always as messy. I once lived in a clean place. I got a donation and was waiting. Soon enough, I was pregnant. I was so happy. But…"My breath caught in my throat. A silver tear glided down her cheek. "I guess it wasn't meant to be." She sucked in a hasty breath. "My baby never lived. It was stillborn." My patient bit her lip until it bled. "I might not be able to feel physical pain. But a wound of the heart… I was so sure that I would have a baby. I had a vision of me and my pretty baby in my arms. Then I wouldn't be so lonely. Maybe then I could find some meaning in my life."  
Her face crumpled and I struggled to fight the instinct to comfort her. I had never been pregnant in my life but my maternal instincts told me that I would too be as devastated if it had been me. My heart felt torn. Just then a doctor burst through the doors and walked up to another patient.  
I noticed his bright red hair and thought that this must be Dr. Simpson. He was walking to a very frail looking youth in the corner of the large room. "Alright," he breathed. Was this the leukemia patient? "Mr. Rick. It appears that you have leukemia and that…you will probably die." The youth's eyes widened with disbelief. "Dr. Baker said that I was okay." He whispered. "Well Dr. Baker is a cunt so…bye bye!" Dr. Simpson turned on his heel and marched out of the room. I was disgusted. What a total asshole!  
My patient had finished crying so I left to tell the others…and to warn them about the cranky redhead. He was now on my dead or alive list.

"Yes, he can be a bit…" Carlisle said when I had finished explaining everything about our patient and Dr. Simpson. "But he is very, very good. Don't underestimate him." I snorted in disgust.  
Then I nodded and picked at the curry Carlisle had thoughtfully bought for me. "Thanks again for the food." I said, embarrassed. He shook his head. "I keep telling you, it's really no problem."  
I smiled up at him. I was glad that I had him and not Dr. Simpson. Poor Izzy and Holly.  
"Can I ask you some stuff?" I asked him. Carlisle looked surprised. "Yes, of course." He said slowly. I got a napkin and wiped my mouth, placing the lid back on the plastic container that contained the remnants of my curry. It had been very good, and I was still a bit hungry, but I was hungrier for knowledge then I was for Indian cuisine. "Who are you?"  
He laughed. "Now that is a hard one." He went on. "For aren't we all still discovering ourselves? I know what I am, but sometimes an identity of the soul is hard to determine." He leaned back in his chair and waited for my answer, his expression one of someone in deep thought. I smiled at him. "I agree. I am so confused about who exactly I am." I trailed off and looked away, scared that I had got him freaked by my choice of words.  
Carlisle moved and when I looked back he was surprisingly close. "Sometimes I feel so close to finding out, but then it slips away." He said in such a wise tone, that I almost laughed out loud. His boyish good looks hid the deep intelligence of his words and every word had a different imprint on me. I looked down at the table and imagined patterns into the metal that weren't there. It felt like an age before Carlisle got up.  
"We're late." He said simply, getting my empty container and putting it into the bin. I got up with him and we started heading back to our room.  
We took the stairs to my great despair. I suddenly realized how Carlisle stayed so fit. How many years had he been walking up these monsters? I was trying not to pant as I gradually reached the top. My expression must've given me away, because he bit his lip and looked like in the entire world he wanted to laugh at me. I don't know why but I took it personally. He found me laughable.  
We walked down the halls and the nurses one either side of us stared; a few tripped over in an extremely synchronized fashion. I realized that Carlisle didn't just charm me, he killed everyone. And the ring on his finger was the only thing keeping them from attacking him here and now. He noticed me looking at one particularly. She had bumped into another nurse and they were both on the floor. He walked past them. "I used to help them up but there were too many and that caused more so…" he shook his head. "I just don't know what causes this. All the time…" he trailed off and I stared at him, exasperated. How could he be so blind to his own beauty? He was like a young god. He was in fact so unbearably perfect it almost hurt.  
We found our way back through the invisible war of the worlds in the halls, and soon as I was back in my seat we were already talking about what was best to do. I sighed and my eyes slowly focused off Carlisle and onto the plans for the patient. We had actually discovered that her name was Ms. Henderson. Well, not discovered but we finally stopped calling her 'the patient'.  
I could tell that Carlisle was struggling not to take control. This was our teams test. It was testing our medical abilities and also how well we could work together. So far, I only wanted to kill one member.  
"Should we go back to her house and keep looking?" Sam asked.  
"No, I think we should put her on the right drug and let her get better first." Mia said.  
"I agree." I sighed dejectedly. And it was true, I did agree.  
Carlisle shook his head. "We need to discover the cause." He said stubbornly.  
I rolled my eyes. "She is in real trouble." I said to him. "If we wait any longer her immune system will just get weaker."  
He just sighed. "Don't think I don't know that." He whispered. "But we need to find out where it's coming from before we begin treatment."  
I groaned and let my head drop onto the table. Sam laughed, but Mia pretended that I never existed. I looked over at Carlisle and he shot me daggers. "Let's go." He said to me. I nodded reluctantly. As we were going to the door, Sam stopped us. "Why are you two always running off without us? What are we going to do why you're both gallivanting off into the sunset?" he growled.  
I bit my lip and looked up at Carlisle. He wasn't looking at me.  
He was dealing with Sam. "I never said that you weren't coming too." He said. Great! Now Mia had to spoil the party. I scowled at Sam.

Carlisle, Sam and I were in the Mercedes while Mia revved her engine behind us. I didn't trust her, but she loved Carlisle so she wouldn't dare hurt his awesome car. Would she? I am in it after all. We stopped in front of Ms. Henderson's house again and Mia got out of her mini. "Woah." She said. "This place is a tip."  
We maneuvered inside with all of our equipment and took up positions around the house. I took up shop in the kitchen. There wasn't much to do, just re-do all of the samples Carlisle took. I looked around, trying to remember what he had told me. I remembered and walked over to look in the toaster. I dipped in a swab and pulled out a whole bunch of dust and crumbs. Next was the mould near the stove. I swiped along there and then did the water. The water followed and I stopped. Something smelled off about it. I walked outside, forgetting the sample and followed a pipe outside and it went onto the roof. I looked for a way to get up and found a rusty ladder leaning on the side of it. I scampered up and onto the roof. The roof was flat, so I walked over. Something made me stop.  
There was a faint meowing coming from somewhere. Cats? I looked around and sighted a mother on her side feeding four tiny kittens. My heart mashed up to see them so small. I loved cats.  
But my mind jerked back to the pipe. I looked along the ground to see that it led to a small rainwater pool on the roof. I was confused. That stuff was often used for rainwater. But she was using it for drinking water! I looked over at the cats and it all made sense.

"The drinking water?" Ms. Henderson exclaimed. "I couldn't pay for proper plumbing so I got a half-trained man to come in. He connected the pipe to my rainwater tank."  
I raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you know that that was bad?" I said.  
"It was something."  
"And who were those cats?"  
"Neighborhood strays I'm guessing." She sighed. "They're everywhere."  
I nodded. "What about the visitor that came in not too long ago?"  
"That was my friend, Jon." She explained.  
"I didn't like the water at the hospital so he brought me some water."

I heard footsteps behind me. I spun around and Carlisle stood behind me. "When I tested the water it didn't have the virus." He said. "And earlier in her stay at the hospital, Ms. Henderson had recovered. But the water that the visitor gave to her was tainted and she developed it again."  
He gave me smile. "And here's the best part."  
He turned to Ms. Henderson. "Your stillbirth was a result of the virus." He said.  
"There's nothing wrong with your body apart from the infection and after all this is over you can safely have kids."  
The look of hope and joy on her face was getting unbearable. I was so happy I could cry. But I needed to talk to Carlisle alone. I dragged him away from her; she was now blessing us both and our families. I waved goodbye and Carlisle and I turned to look at each other.  
"What about the seizure?"  
"She had an infection and that caused a fever." He explained.  
"So she's going to be okay."  
"She will still have Osteogenisis Imperfecta and CIPA but apart from that, we'll start her on Pyrimethamine."  
I squealed and gave him a huge hug, which after an awkward pause he gladly returned. His muscular arms pushed me closer to his chest and I gave a little shiver at how unusually cold and smooth his skin was. He pushed me away, but there was definite pride in his eyes. She was going to be okay. We we're going to be okay.  
I had a feeling that things were going to get much better.

Sam and I celebrated at the beach. We were driving up on the weekend. It was a nice day and the sun was shining. We sang along to all our favorites on the radio and felt a real sense of accomplishment and friendship. It was all suddenly so uncomplicated and happy.  
We arrived at the beach and unpacked our surfboards and towels and whatnot. Sam and I were determined to attend the surfing lesson today. The surf was supposed to be great. And it was.  
As we walked down and onto the sand, I could see the huge crashing waves and as we watched a surfer got dunked into the sea. We exchanged worried glances, and then burst out laughing. We were so dead.  
We set up shop a fair distance from the shore on a grassy hill. Sam and I raced down to the surf place, which was a big tent down on the beach. The sand was hot and Sam awkwardly hopped from toe to toe. Sam was fairly good looking, but I had promised myself I wouldn't think about anything serious today. Today I was just going to escape the hospital and muck around.

We hadn't been surfing for long. As we had thought, we were both absolute rubbish at it but jumped up and laughed whenever we got hit. We were surfing alongside a pale looking teenager who looked like he was going to throw up. Every time in between surfs, he would run into the tent and hide. I laughed that Sam was scary and he intimidated everyone. Sam had then challenged me to a surfing competition and we both lost.  
After a while the kid started looking really scared. He kept in the tent now and refused to come out. I decided to ask him what was up. He simply stared at me. I was slightly shaken, so I went to sunbathe with Sam. The kid was pressured by his friends to come out and play but he refused.  
Something was up.  
He was dragged out into the sun and everything changed. He collapsed in screaming and started writhing and shaking. "Sam." I said urgently. He looked over and we got up to investigate. The boy struggled to get back into the shadows. His friends laughed and pulled him out again. "Stop!" I shouted at them. "Please, it's hurting him!"  
The boy looked up into my eyes. Then, he growled and looked up at the sun narrowing his eyes with hatred and disgust. He let out a bloodcurdling howl and I knew that my quiet weekend was over.


End file.
